Performing Shakespeare on an Endangered Planet

Given the many environmental crises facing the planet, we need to use all tools to address them, including Shakespearean theatre. This Element explains why Shakespeare is well-positioned to be an eco-playwright, how theatre-makers can adapt his plays to matter now, and how to make more ecological the many processes of Shakespearean theatre, from set design to performing outdoors. The co-authors are both directors, and conversations between them about their recent eco-productions of The Tempest for the Royal Shakespeare Company and A Midsummer Night's Dream for Shakespeare in Yosemite (California) give clear examples of both the why and how of eco-theatrical Shakespeare.

List of contents

Introduction: Discovering Shakespearean Eco-Theatre; 1. Why Eco-Shakespeare?; 2. Eco-Themes, or How to Select and Adapt Shakespearean Texts for Eco-Performance; 3. Eco-Practices, or, How to Make Shakespeare Plays that Don't Cost the Earth; Epilogue: Green Teaching; Appendix A: Selected Eco-Shakespearean Companies and Organizations; Appendix B: Selected Eco-Shakespearean Productions and Films; References.

Product details

• Authors: Katherine Steele (University of California Brokaw, Brokaw Katherine Steele, Elizabeth Freestone
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 30.06.2025
• EAN: 9781009569590
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0956959-0
• No. of pages: 75
• Series: Elements in Shakespeare Performance
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; Climate Change, LITERARY CRITICISM / Drama, Theatre Studies, Environmentalist thought & ideology, Literary studies: plays & playwrights, Environmentalist thought and ideology, Shakespeare Studies & Criticism, Literary studies: plays and playwrights, Relating to Shakespeare / Shakespearean